Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Movie report: The Monuments Men There are good movies and there are bad movies. And then there are movies that make you want to re-write and re-shoot the entire thing. “The Monuments Men” is one of those movies. On paper, this movie must have looked like a sure-fire hit. During the chaos and destruction of World War 2 in Europe, a bunch of guys are trying to save precious works of art that the Nazis are systematically looting or destroying. Great premise, right? It’s like a reverse caper film. Plus, it has Nazis! Not only that, it has a terrific cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, and Cate Blanchett! And it has terrific big production values. Lots of battle scenes. Big armies. Tanks. Explosions. Everything you look for in a war movie. But, my gosh, the writing is awful. Nonsensical. Vague. Cryptic. Huh-inducing. And the directing. Jeez. Scenes don’t really end. They just sort of meander around and get lost. There’s one scene where two

movie report: Much Ado about Nothing (2012) If you don’t like Shakespeare, this might be the movie for you. If you do like Shakespeare, it definitely is. I heard about this movie when it first came out, but missed it in the theaters. What got my attention was that it was directed by Joss Whedon, who also directed some of my favorite movies and TV shows, including Firefly, Serenity, and The Avengers. Apparently, Whedon grabbed a bunch of his actor friends and shot the whole movie in 12 days. It’s modern dress, modern setting (his own large, but not a mansion, house), and modern acting. And it’s awfully funny. You’ll spot lots of actors you’ve seen in other recent things, including Amy Acker (Person of Interest), Nathan Fillion and Sean Maher (Firefly and Serenity), Clark Gregg (Avengers), and Riki Lindhome (Big Bang Theory). There are 3 intertwined stories. There’s recently been a civil war between two brother princes: Don Pedro won, Don John lost, and both are now guests of

movie report: I Am Number Four (2011) I aimed to see this movie when it came out, for these reasons: • From the trailer, it looked like people had super powers. • It has a number in the title, upping its geek score. • The number in the title might actually be a character’s name, like Seven of Nine, which pushes its geek score into the stratosphere. But I didn’t, because it didn’t last too long in theaters because of terrible reviews. I watched it on DVD, and right off the bat, it started doing things I don’t like in movies, such as: • Introducing someone I thought was the main character, then killing him off within 5 minutes. • Dark and murky scenes where I can’t tell who’s who and what’s going on. • Characters talk soft and mumbly: can’t understand what they’re saying. • Confusion about who the good guys and bad guys are. • Introduction of 3 young good-looking carefree guys riding on jet skis on the ocean: I do not want to sit through a 2-hour Pepsi commercial.